Ukraine, Brussels freezes negotiations, government toward reshuffling

After a Sunday of pro-European Union demonstrations, Fule, Commissioner for Enlargement, announced that negotiations are “suspended” pending a “clear commitment” from Kiev. Yanukovich is in Moscow tomorrow; his party asks to modify 90% of the executive

The biggest day of action since the beginning of the protests was not enough. Yesterday after the chorus, the tide of yellow and blue flags and two U.S. senators who came to Maidan Place to incite shouting “America is with you,” a cold shower came from Brussels: the work to be able to sign the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU (the contents of which have been finalized for some time, are no longer in discussion, the Commission says) “has been suspended; we have not received a response from Kiev,” tweets Stefan Fule, European Commissioner for Enlargement. The gap between Ukrainian leaders’ promises to the EU and the reality is trying Europe’s patience:  “The words and deeds of President Yanukovich and the government relative to the Association Agreement become more and more divided,” the Commissioner writes on the social network. Now, “further discussions – he clarifies – are linked to a clear commitment.”

Despite the halt from Brussels, demonstrations begin to have some effect. As a solution to the serious political and institutional crisis, the Party of Regions, in power in Ukraine, proposed a broad reshuffling of the government. “We have submitted a request to Prime Minister Mykola Azarov to modify 90% of the government’s composition,” announced Anna German, delegate of the pro-Russian group of which Azarov and President Viktor Yanukovych are members. Not only that. The first test of authorities using force against peaceful demonstrators falls apart. The President announced that the Mayor of Kiev and the Deputy Secretary of the Ukraine Security Council have been removed from office for having ordered the violent dispersal of anti-government protesters by police on November 30th.

The issue about Ukraine arrives today on the table for the Foreign Ministers of the 28 member states, meeting in Brussels for the Foreign Affairs Council. Sergei Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister, will also discuss the case with his European colleagues. This meeting had actually been scheduled for quite some time, in light of the Russia-EU Summit in January, but inevitably will end up focusing on the situation in Ukraine.

Moscow seems to have no intention of giving up and letting Ukraine out from under its thumb. So tomorrow Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin leader, will meet Ukrainian President Yanukovych again to try to convince him to join the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. On the agenda: “priority issues in bilateral trade and economic cooperation; joint operations on future mutually beneficial projects, particularly in the areas of energy, transport, the space industry, agriculture, investment and interregional cooperation,” says a note from the Kremlin taken by the Interfax agency. “A package of bi-lateral agreements should be signed after the meeting,” the statement continues.

To hold Kiev back, Moscow would also be willing to guarantee a loan, if Ukraine were to request it. Andrei Belousov, Putin’s Assistant, confirmed this, adding that the situation in the former Soviet republic is so critical that without aid they will not be able to maintain economic stability. Ukraine is trying to cover a deficit of foreign funding of $17 billion for the next few years, equal to the current level of reserves depleted by Kiev’s central banking institute.

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